July 2012

Current Weather: 78 degrees and cloudy
Current Gas Price: $3.20 per gallon
Total Cockroach Count: 7 (Tis the season for cockroaches in SC!)

Greetings familial relations! We enjoyed seeing all of you during our visit to Ohio! What a joy it was to be back! We both feel the "newness" of Greenwood wearing off and though we are still enjoying our time here in the South we are feeling a stronger pull toward our old stomping grounds these days! And being back there just amplified that! Ohio holds a strong place in our hearts, especially because all of the people we love most are there! YOU! As the summer fades we feel saddened to once again be missing the fall/Christmas season in Ohio.  We will not however feel sad come January-March when it's down right miserable in Ohio! Haha, we'll be enjoying our sunshine then! Honestly, its been really cloudy and rainy here these past several weeks and I've really enjoyed it! Perhaps because I am at home most days and the rainy weather kind of makes it "okay" to be inside as opposed to the sun who seems to shout, "Get out of the house you lazy butt!" Haha, maybe the rain makes me feel like its okay to be lazy? Can I get an "Amen?" Well, I feel like I can't count on the Haldermans to back me up here...y'all will go outside in all sorts of weather conditions! But how  'bout a shout out from the Brannons? Haha, ok, enough of that!

Wesley is enjoying his second year of residency and I am certainly enjoying having him home more often! Though it has been wonderful to have less call, he has had to adjust to a different (and more challenging) role as an upper level.  When on call, he's the person that all the interns bring their questions to, which was somewhat nerve-wracking at first! But after several calls Wes is getting the hang of it. I'd like to get a video of him waking up after a call night to show y'all (with his permission of course). Sometimes he says the funniest stuff right when he's waking up, like telling me to give someone aspirin or saying he doesn't know what happened to that patient or whatever.  Haha, maybe I'll catch something good! Wes is sleeping now after a 24 hour shift but I told him to just get up when he wakes up so no funny video today!

Wes getting ready for his first shift as a SECOND YEAR! Wahoo! 

Feeling confident and ready to go! He may or may not have been a little bit late because his adoring wife wanted to take so many pictures of him! 

Pulling out of the driveway! Yes...I will be taking pictures just like this next year and on his first day of starting his new job! Haha, so get excited! I just want to make sure I document everything! I'm so proud! 

I am heading back to work on Tuesday, the 14th! So next week! I am not really excited about going back to work but I am not dreading it either! It will be nice to be back to a more regular schedule but I do not enjoy the demands and pressure of working very much.  Who does, really? We lost 4 speech therapists last year and at this point (one week before school) they have only hired 1 new girl...so that means more work for us! Haha, the other speech therapists keep saying, "Well they are just going to HAVE to hire someone else!" Perhaps I am jaded but personal experience tells me they definitely do not HAVE to hire someone else!  Haha, maybe I'll be wrong but I doubt it! Either way its going to make an "exciting" start to the school year as things get jumbled around between the 9 speech therapists left.  There is one thing I am certain of at the beginning of each school year and that is that I can be certain of nothing. :) Welp, here's to another crazy but good school year!

Well...as for July...it was a busy and very fun month of traveling! We began the month with a bang by heading to Peru for a mission trip with VIMM! (http://www.vimm.org/) I know that we have spoken with many of you about it but our overall impression of the trip was that it was a really good trip! I've told some of you that I feel a pressure after leaving the country to come back and tell everyone that I had the time of my life or that is was AMAZING!!!! Haha, but honestly, we don't really feel that way! We feel that it was a "really good" trip! We certainly enjoyed ourselves but we were exhausted most of the time, either from the high altitude, work, or shivering in our hotel! Also, it was "really good" because we were able to provide basic medical care and spiritual "care" to over 1,300 people! We went to serve others and that's exactly what we did!  We also met some really awesome people, both Peruvian and American! One of the best things about trips like these is that you meet so many different kinds of people! It's strange, but after spending even 10 days in another country with lots of new people, I found myself longing to be back in America and around the comfort of those I love best! But, overall, we had a really good time and would definitely do it again! Please ask us more about it when we see you next...I feel like we've talked to most of you about this so I don't think I need to go into more detail! But if you have any questions then please ask! Please copy/paste the link below into your web browser to view our pictures: (there are two different sets so make sure you look at both.  Scroll down to see the second set)!

https://plus.google.com/u/0/112941531646652866716/posts

Two days after getting back from Peru, I headed home to Ohio! While there, I was able to see everyone except Dad & Lynn and Beth Snyder as they were all out of town! Seeing them would have been the icing on the cake! Next time! The drive up to Ohio ended up being quite an ordeal as our front bumper started shaking so badly that people were honking at me and pointing to the front of the car.  We had previously scraped it on the ground and broken the bolts off.  (Haha, so we probably should have taken care of it earlier but we didn't know it was so bad because we never drive on highways here!)  It began as I heard a funny noise and 7 hours later it was so bad that I began driving only 65 to get to Columbus.  I made it however and it worked out perfectly that I was able to take the car to Honda and get it fixed while there! Whew!

Front bumper dropping lower and lower to the ground...eek!

But, I finally made it to Columbus and started my vacation by grabbing dinner with my high school friends, Brittany, Jenna, and Katie! SO GOOD to see them! I think I've said this before but I feel so blessed that we have stayed in contact over all these years! We have so many memories between the four of us and you don't find that everyday! Next, I headed over to Mom's house for the next several days! I will allow the following pictures to give you a recap of what we did!

This is when I first arrived at Mom's house!

We enjoyed a glass of champagne on Mom's patio! 

Libby joined us the next day! I was so excited to see  the 'ole twin again! 

On Sunday night, we went to see the Shakespeare in the Park performance of  "The Merchant of Venice." Mom brought smoked salmon, delicious cheese, and yummy crackers for our "dinner." Thanks Mom!  

Mom also took the time to read the play so that she could tell Libby and I what was going on! She read something called, "No Fear Shakespeare" that has both the original play and an updated version of it, which made it easier to understand! Libs and I would have been totally lost if Mom had not told us all about it!

On Monday, we headed down to Brookville for a pool party at my Aunt Terri's house! My grandma and cousin, Ashley, came too! The weather was great and we had an awesome time relaxing with them! Because Wes and I live so far away, we did not see them for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter last year! So it had been over a year since I had seen them last! 

Would you go hiking if the sky looked like this? We should have known better. 

0.1 miles into our hike at John Bryan State Park it started pouring on us! (Haha, like I said we should have known from  the dark clouds as we were driving there but we thought we could get a decent hike in before it reached us...apparently not!) 

I got the idea of putting my iPhone in a plastic bag from Melanie & Johnna (who had done so for the Color Run) so that I could take pictures of us even if it started raining!  It obviously came in handy! 

Not sure if you can see how much it was raining...but trust me, it was pouring! We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to the car!

Hee hee, Libby is obviously not intimidated by the rain! 

After our very short and wet hike we still went to Young's Dairy...mainly because it was on my list of "Places to Eat." It was rather interesting to eat ice cream with drenched clothes (somewhat chilly) but we still enjoyed ourselves!

Young's Dairy was not the popular place to be on such a rainy afternoon! 

Enjoying our delicious ice cream cones! 

Another place on my list of restaurants to visit was El Vaquero.  Here Libs and Mom are finishing off our pitcher of  margaritas.  Mom at least had the decency to drink hers out of the glass...Libby just drank straight from the pitcher! Haha, just kidding...I just think it looks like that in the photo! 

Twins enjoying yummy Mexican food! They have one mexican food place in Greenwood, called La Hacienda, but I don't think it is as good as El Vaquero.  Plus, they don't have a veggie burrito like El Vaquero...and that's my favorite! 

Mom made some awesome tilapia and zucchini for dinner another night.  This was right after our "Gin Rummy Tournament" in which I had -60 points when Libby had over 200 but still came back to win the game! AWESOME! Mom & Libs were not too pleased with me.  But obviously, I was pleased with myself since I've told almost everyone about it. Oops...perhaps I'm a little stuck up? Thoughts? 

On Wednesday (July 25th) Wes flew into Columbus and joined me for the rest of our Ohio vacation! Although Libby was working that day we took her and Mom out to lunch at the last place on our restaurant list...Skyline Chili! They were having a big "Skyline Party" and they gave us free cake! Sweet!  That night we went to Matt the Miller's with Nate & Rebekah Richards and Dan & Lauren Jeltes.  It was wonderful to see them and after talking with them we felt really blessed to have had the great residency experience that we have had!

I also got to see NATALIE! She had come home from Tanzania the night before, literally! Haha, it may not have been the best timing for me to stop by as she had just come home but I wanted to see her and wasn't sure when else I could do it if it wasn't then! It was SO GREAT to see her! She looks the same (only with sweet ebony jewelry) and I was thrilled to see that has not lost that Natalie twinkle in her eye! She told me all about her many plans and options that she has for her future now that she is finished with her Peace Corps Service and it was certainly exciting to hear about all of the possibilities she has for her future! WELCOME HOME NATALIE!  Then our last stops were the Halderman's and John & Kim's! We left John & Kim's on Monday, July 30th to head back to South Carolina!

Eating at Skyline Chili! Delicious! 

We went to OSU to meet up with Logan and took a little walk around! Here we are on the Oval (with the library in the background).  It was incredibly hot though so our walk ended up being pretty short! We went to Graeter's instead! 

 I got to pick some carrots from the Halderman's garden! Shortly after this picture was taken Jagur  went crazy and started running all over the garden.  Haha, he was "showing off" for us! Haha, he did that several more times over the weekend and each time was as funny as the first! Haha, he was definitely wound up with all of the family home!

We were so happy to see the corn again! We hardly ever see corn in South Carolina! 

So right when we were about to leave for John & Kim's our car wouldn't start! We think that a door was not shut all the way because there was a light on and the battery was dead! Geez! Haha, the guys got it running again while Dana and I divided all the produce from their garden to take home! (Thanks! They were delicious!) Eventually, we were on our way to John & Kim's house! 

John is building a shed in their backyard and he had just poured the concrete the day before! I am always amazed at the stuff that John does by himself! He and my Dad are my inspiration for "Do It Yourself" home projects! Mom is my inspiration for "Do It Yourself"decorations...I guess either way I'm "doing it myself!"

We walked to Aglamesis Brothers for ice cream after dinner.  They recently  put in a new "town square" thing and we ate our ice cream there!  We had a great time being with them! 

After an amazing week at Ohio with our friends and family, we began the journey home to Greenwood! I felt sad to leave Ohio and it made me really want to move back to Columbus! I know that that would disappoint all of you...but we just may do it ;)

Now, it's back to the daily grind of both of us working! We are excited for this year and the many adventures it will bring us! We are also looking forward to the things God will show us and teach us this year! Good things for the 2012-2013 school year! We love you all!